You Deserved It
by BlackPepper3964
Summary: Kuroko doesn't like it when his teammates start drifting away from him and, though he debates waiting for it to all blow over, decides that he won't take this lying down. Teiko-era canon divergence. Rated for mild language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I just thought of this yesterday, and wondered where I could go with it. It features a Kuroko who's not afraid to make his opinion known. There are four parts to this (there was originally supposed to be two, and then three, but I put my foot down at four, _thank god_ ) and I hope you all enjoy! **

**WARNING: Mild language and mentions/displays of violence - this applies for the first three chapters only.**

 **BP**

* * *

Tetsuya could barely wait until the end of the game. Honestly, what was Aomine-kun thinking?

He'd thought that everything was progressing as usual – they were winning, but not by a massive margin, and everyone appeared to be having fun. Akashi-kun was being as brilliant as ever, directing everyone as needed and supplying them with strategies as the game progressed; Midorima-kun hadn't missed a shot; Murasakibara-kun was looking as bored as ever, but Tetsuya could see the glint in his eyes whenever the opposing team made him pause; and Kise-kun was fitting in well, competing to the best of his abilities and enjoying every second, to the point that Tetsuya believed that he may be scaring the other team a little, with the way he laughed excitedly whether he scored or was stopped in his tracks.

But Aomine-kun had made a brilliant shot after co-ordinating with Tetsuya and he was merely _jogged away_ , ignoring Tetsuya's outstretched fist completely. At the time he'd been shocked, and he'd felt the rejection in his bones.

Now, however, with the game over, the bows done and the trophies given, all Tetsuya felt was a deep-seated _fury_.

Entering the locker room after everyone else, he took a deep breath to calm himself down a little. It didn't really work, but he couldn't hold himself back anymore that he was anyway. He looked at Aomine-kun, who was sitting on the bench, in the middle of taking off his shoes and stood in front of him, arms crossed. Tetsuya hadn't even bothered to fully wipe off the sweat from the game, but that was the last thing he cared about.

Meanwhile, Seijuurou had just pulled in his shirt, when he noticed that the air was surprisingly cold, looking around, he discovered the source. Kuroko was standing in front of his 'light' with a (rarely, almost never-before-seen) furious glare, the air around him screaming 'don't interfere'. He nudged Midorima, whose eyes widened at the scene and he paused in getting changed.

"Aomine-kun." Kuroko called softly, but with a hint of iron underneath it all that called _everyone's_ attention, and they all watched as Aomine didn't even bother to raise his head, and Seijuurou almost cringed.

"What, Tetsu?" Seijuurou saw, out of the corner of his eye, Midorima shake his head with a quiet 'moron'. Midorima was correct, as the tone Aomine spoke with was dismissive of Kuroko's presence entirely, and they all knew that Aomine couldn't just _do that_ without Kuroko giving him hell for it, especially when he was already angry.

"What the _hell_ was that out there?" Kuroko's voice was still quiet, and the softness in it was a sign that anyone recognised as don't-go-there territory, a sign that the other should hastily apologise – and apologise _rigorously_. Aomine, the brave idiot, didn't do this.

"I thought I told you, Tetsu. I'm tired, and it feels like the only one who can beat me is me." A scowl formed on Kuroko's face.

"You ignored me." He hissed venomously, eyes darkening. Seijuurou's eyes narrowed, pleased at the way that Kuroko was finally expressing his dissatisfaction with the way his partner was playing basketball. He'd been beginning to think that Kuroko would just let Aomine steamroll all over him. Everyone else in the locker room visibly shuddered in fear – they all knew that the last thing any of the regulars of Teiko should do is ignore Kuroko once his presence has been made apparent.

"When?" Oh wow. Had Seijuurou been the type to do so, a palm would have met his face in exasperation. Kuroko bent down slightly, his expression forbidding, and Seijuurou felt a shiver down his spine.

"Let me make a few things clear to you, Aomine-kun." He said lowly. "I, in no way, appreciate the way you have been treating me, the team, and our opponents. What happened to the guy who said that there was 'no such thing as useless effort'? That every member of the team was valuable and that you could never not like someone who loved basketball? Have you gotten so _pigheaded_ that you believe that you could beat national professionals at fifteen?" Kuroko hadn't raised his voice – in fact, many in the club believed that the boy was incapable of it, Seijuurou included – but the words seemed to echo in the room. "I don't like arrogant people, Aomine-kun. And if you are going to be one, you can either sit still as I punch it out of you, or you can get _the fuck_ out of my life, okay?"

…

Silence.

Everyone stared at the polite boy who'd never sworn in front of them, and who'd never gotten more violent that a jab in the ribs – usually to Aomine anyway – as he threatened to punch someone (and of course it had to be Aomine that brought that out of the gentle boy) and _swore_.

But Aomine seemed oblivious to this – Seijuurou wondered if this was just an off-day for him, as he usually had a lot more self-preservation than this, at the very least he tended to look at Kuroko during a scolding and ran away whenever Kuroko had a similar expression to the one he was wearing now – and sighed.

"Look, Tetsu –" Kuroko wasn't having the depressed, yet obstinate, tone he was being spoken to anymore, it seemed, as he slapped the back of Aomine's head _hard_. Aomine's head shot up and he glared at Kuroko for a moment before the actual expression Kuroko was wearing registered. Fear spread across his features, and Seijuurou wondered, as he looked at the other fearful expressions in the locker room, if he could ask Kuroko how he managed it, and if he'd be willing to give him a few tips. Some second-string members were becoming troublesome in that they refused to listen to him.

"When I told you that you would come across someone who is stronger than you soon, I didn't mean _now_ , or this _week_ , or even this _year_. How stupid can you be, Aomine-kun? I thought that you at least had the sense to understand that middle-school is _middle-school_ , not high-school, college, university, or even NBA level. _Of course there's going to be someone stronger that you_ , so stop with all the self-pitying _bullshit_ , play games seriously, come to practice and stop _ignoring_ the fact that this is a _game_ and is therefore supposed to be _fun_." Aomine was practically cowering against his seat as Kuroko ranted at him. "If you want to be _boring_ and _unpleasant_ then _stop playing_ , because there's no point if you're not happy and drag everyone down with you, which is selfish and so egotistical that it makes me think you _want_ an Ignite Pass to the face." Aomine blanched.

"I don't, I'm sorry." Kuroko became even more menacing.

"You better mean that, Aomine-kun. I don't want to have to punch you, as cathartic as that would be," Seijuurou blinked. Aomine really messed up if Kuroko thought physical violence would be _cathartic_. "And I meant what I said." Kuroko leant closer, voice lowering even further to a sibilant whisper. "You can get right out of my life and never contact me again if you think you can ignore me and belittle me, arrogantly thinking that you are the best, when there are basketball players that _have you beat_ when it comes to being an actually _decent_ , _kind_ , _inspiring_ human being, whether they have talent in the sport or not." Aomine nodded.

"I'm sorry." Kuroko held out his fist, and Aomine flinched for a moment – and Seijuurou saw the minute smile and the wave of sadistic pleasure that passed through his eyes, and felt almost victorious that he and Kuroko were more alike than most others thought.

Keeping his expression flat, Kuroko said, "I'd like that fist bump." After a small pause, he added with a placid, threatening smile, " _Now_ , Aomine-kun." His eyes were just _daring_ Aomine to refuse, and Seijuurou was pleased to see that Aomine smiled a little, fear still clear on his face, and quickly raised his fist, gently bumping Kuroko's.

* * *

 **Hooray! Fun times to be had! Look forward to the next chapter!  
**

 **BP**


	2. Chapter 2

**So yeah, you get another installment today - actually I think all of them will be today, it's nearly finished, after all. Either that, or the other two will be tomorrow.  
**

 **The warning from the last chapter definitely still applies here and I hope you enjoy!**

 **BP**

* * *

Unfortunately, the talk that he and Aomine-kun had didn't actually appear to do anything, really. Because a few months later, Aomine-kun wasn't coming to practice and Akashi-kun had sent him after the idiot. Then the idiot _dared_ to spout the same things he'd spouted earlier, with a few additions – one of which hitting him right where it hurts the most.

"I… don't even remember how to receive your passes anymore." Blinking his way past the hurt, Tetsuya once again felt the rage, so this time he didn't bother warning Aomine-kun.

He punched him. Hard. Forcing him to the ground and leaving him staring up at Tetsuya in shock.

"I told you. Aomine-kun, I _told_ you. I don't like arrogant people, but because you're my friend, I decided to punch you first before I kicked you out of my life." Tetsuya wanted to shout, he really did, but his throat was sore from running after Aomine-kun in the rain and he wasn't sure he would be able to in the first place, so he was left with talking loudly. "Have you already forgotten what I told you in the locker room that day? _Stop expecting people to lose to you_. There's always someone stronger than you, you just haven't found them yet. I'm sure, in the next three years, when we're in high school, there will be a worthy opponent, if not then at college and university. Until then, _go to practice_ and stop _whining_ like a spoiled _child_." He glared down at his friend, who stared at him in mild horror and fear, the shock gone. His hand was absentmindedly rubbing his cheek. "I am not impressed by this little tantrum you're having, and just because everyone _else_ lets you get away with it, does _not_ mean _I_ will!" Tetsuya's hands went to his hips and he grimaced. "I used to look up to you, you know. You had what I always wanted – stamina, talent; I can only pass and dribble. And I'm so _disappointed_ that you would lose faith in yourself, your teammates, and our opponents! It's downright insulting, the way you just _decide_ for the rest of us what the result of everything is going to be – and then feel as if you have to hold back. Stop doing it! Where has your respect for another player gone?! How _dare you_ tell me that I'm useless to you! How dare you tell me that you don't know how to receive my passes!" Tetsuya turned sharply, pacing a little, as he ran his hands through his wet hair to repress the urge to hit the other boy again, maybe kick him this time.

"Tetsu…" Aomine-kun hushed when he saw how worked up Tetsuya had become.

"No! You do not get to tell me that!" He glared viciously at Aomine-kun. "I am a regular on this team, and I have worked _hard_ to get there – how dare you belittle that? You told me that you liked guys like me, who loved basketball and worked hard in it, whether they were good at it or not. Are you taking back your words?" His lips twisted into a disgusted frown as he calmed down a little. "I'm tired, Aomine-kun. Tired of trying to reach out to you so you'll _listen_ to me, tired of being your shadow when I want to be your friend and teammate, tired of trying to force you to participate in practice when all you do is complain about how weak everyone is and bring everyone's mood down. Tired of becoming tired of basketball." The final sentence was uttered quietly and, though Aomine-kun only just heard it, it made his eyes widen as he finally realised exactly what he was doing to Tetsuya and everyone else. He scrambled up and placed his hand on Tetsuya's shoulder.

"God, Tetsu, I'm so sorry, I was being an idiot. I didn't mean to do that, I swear –" Tetsuya suppressed the small amount of amusement that filtered through him at the ace's rambling. " – It just felt like there wasn't anyone who could understand what I was going through, and no one really seemed to care, and I didn't know who to talk to…" Aomine-kun, apparently, had realised that he'd stepping onto a very delicate mine-field, because he looked at Tetsuya's face and trailed off, before continuing, "But of course, now I remember that you are my best friend, after Satsuki, and that I should always come to you when I have problems." Now Tetsuya couldn't stop the small smile that came onto his face. The sentence sounded so rehearsed and mechanical, it was as if he knew exactly what Tetsuya was going to say merely by the near-thunderous look on his face and said just the right words to avoid and nuclear bomb to the face.

"Good." Tetsuya said mildly, a deadpan expression on his face. "Because should you forget, I would be pleased to use the force I put in an Ignite Pass the next time I punch you." Aomine-kun blanched.

"Y-you mean that that punch was just a normal punch…?" Tetsuya gave him a placid smile.

"Yes, would you like a comparison now?" Aomine-kun quickly shook his head.

Daiki took that moment to remember that, outside of basketball, Tetsu was actually quite strong – passing a lot meant he had to build up the necessary muscles for it, and the Ignite Pass was a lot stronger than others, and he was aware that Tetsu's Cyclone Pass had to have an awful amount of power behind it to be able to reach the other end of the court without bouncing once – and had an average height of a fifteen-year-old. And Tetsu was unruffled enough in daily life that to see him _angry_ was a rare enough occurrence to be terrifying.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think of it!**

 **BP**


	3. Chapter 3

**Doing this Teiko stuff was surprisingly fun - if I have anymore ideas, then they will definitely be coming on here :D Enjoy!**

 **BP**

* * *

The issue with Aomine-kun sorted, Tetsuya headed back to the gym to tell Akashi-kun the brilliant news. He'd ushered Aomine-kun to go home, as it was after practice anyway and the ace needed a fresh set of clothes, with how soaked they had both become in the rain. Tetsuya was still in his gym clothes, whereas Aomine-kun was dressed in his school uniform and would probably be better off just going home to change, as going home in gym clothes was a little unsightly. Tetsuya decided that he would tell Akashi-kun what happened first, and then go to change into his school uniform to head home.

The gym was empty when he got there, with the exception of Akashi-kun, who appeared to be doing some last minute practice. The red-head passed him towel as he walked in, sighing at the thought that he'd probably have to take another shower before he changed, and slightly dismayed by the fact that he _knew_ he'd get a cold by running after his idiot best friend.

"Looks like it was no good." Tetsuya was too busy thinking about his up-and-coming cold to really, truly concentrate on what his captain was saying and just hummed an agreement, lifting the towel to dab at his face. "Then, there's nothing we can do. You should give up on Aomine." Tetsuya blinked as _that_ registered. What? He stared at Akashi-kun. "A plate can never fully be restored once it has a crack. But if it is still usable, what we have now will suffice."

Disturbed and confused at the way Akashi-kun was speaking, Tetsuya asked, "Akashi-kun? What are you talking about?" Tetsuya was aiming to sound annoyed, but the confusion he felt about Akashi-kun's revelation about plates, and the worry he had for the very obvious fact that Akashi-kun's _eye_ had _changed colour_ was probably putting him off, just a little. And then he thought that there was no way that Akashi-kun, as he knew him, would tell him to _give up_. Ever. _Especially_ about a teammate. "No… Who _are_ you?" This new Akashi-kun smiled, putting a widely-spread hand on his chest.

"Of course, I am Akashi Seijuurou… Tetsuya."

Nope. Nuh-uh. No. Not going to happen. Not going there. Absolutely not. Out-of-bounds. Uh-huh. Definitely not going near that with a ten-foot pole.

"Akashi-kun…"

...

Okay, Akashi-kun really had gone too far. He was getting a punch in the face. Tetsuya didn't care that he would probably be kicked off the team.

Seijuurou, the new-and-improved version, was utterly shocked when instead of getting upset or even crying at the hopeless loss that he'd experienced today and being told that he should just deal with the new status quo, Tetsuya got _angry_ and decided that the best way to express that was to _punch Seijuurou in the face_. The force of it was enough to make him stumble and he knew that he'd have quite the bruise – he was also aware that Tetsuya could have made it _a lot_ harder, as he'd caught one of Tetsuya's Ignite Passes once, and it was noticeably stronger, bruising and reddening his hands almost immediately and leaving him with bruises that had refused to heal in any visible way for at least a week.

Shooting a quick look at Tetsuya's hand, he saw that it wasn't even red. How embarrassing. Then he looked at Tetsuya's face, and he almost gulped out of instinctual concern.

His face was absolutely thunderous.

"Are you some kind of idiot? What the _fuck_ are you spouting, Akashi-kun?" Tetsuya hissed. "'Give up on Aomine-kun'? _Plate_ metaphors?! Wake up, you absolute _moron_! Did I say anything about Aomine-kun yet? No. Stop making stupid assumptions and _wait_ for me to speak." Seijuurou blinked. Wow, from what he remembered, Tetsuya was quite a placid, even-tempered person, one who had a lot of respect for him, and, rather unhealthily, didn't ever question him. Where was this coming from? "It's bad enough that I've had to deal with Aomine-kun being the stupid idiot that doesn't talk to me today, but now, apparently, he must have influenced you in some way, because, the last time I checked, you were a smart person who _cared_ about his teammates. Did you think I'd miss the insinuation that you'd _use_ and _manipulate_ Aomine-kun into playing even when he is distressed and confused to the point of depression? Just so we can win? Where did you pull that out of, your arse?" Some distant part of Seijuurou was impressed that Tetsuya could make even he have a shiver of fear down his spine, while another part was once again wondering exactly how he managed to make anyone feel ashamed for any kind of wrong they may have committed – even though Seijuurou always won, therefore he was always correct.

"Tetsuya, should you really be speaking like that to me?" He drawled lowly, a slightly manic smile on his face, letting his eyes glint dangerously. Tetsuya didn't back down though, levelling an unimpressed glare at him, his features growing darker.

"Are you actually _threatening me right now_ , you egg? Did you think that _I_ would let you use _my best friend_ as a _tool_ to win a _game_? Who the hell do you think you are? You should count yourself lucky I'm not going to report this to the head coach for that utterly ridiculous and insensitive statement. People are not tools you use to win, and they were not the will-less pieces you move in shogi. There are no rules in life and I'll be damned if I let you make them to trap my friends and make them miserable. Basketball is a game, meant to be fun. Don't ruin it. Because I'm incredibly willing to Ignite Pass your face if you decide that you're going to be arrogant and use people for your own gain."

Despite the thoughts that the original Seijuurou had had during the game with Murasakibara and after it, about not coming back, about letting himself stay in the darkness of his own mind for the rest of his life, he was able to hear what Kuroko was saying, and he had to admit, the way that his other self was going about things was wrong. He thought he'd be able to allow it, but maybe… maybe it was because Kuroko appeared to have a way with words that he thought that it would be worth coming back, maybe try to merge his two selves together, rather than let one take full control. They were co-operating fine with each other before, after all.

Fine, he'd come back.

"Well, you certainly have a way with words, Kuroko." He began, amusement lacing his voice. "I'll admit, it is the first time I've been threatened to be punched in the face if I become arrogant." He watched as Kuroko sighed in relief, smiling a little.

"It's nice to see that your normal self has returned. I was worried that I'd have to punch someone for a third time today." Seijuurou rose an eyebrow.

"Third? Ah, did you punch Aomine then?" Kuroko's smile gained a sharp edge.

"Yes, he was being frustrating. I thought I'd have to help knock that attitude from him It worked, by the way. Aomine-kun will be coming to practice every day." Kuroko rubbed the towel on his hair. "If not for himself, then I'm sure he'll do it because he doesn't want to feel an Ignite Pass to the face." Seijuurou inwardly winced. Kuroko's jabs hurt enough, from how he'd seen Aomine react, and Seijuurou had felt one of Kuroko's normal punches, though he knew that Kuroko had pulled the punch. He could only remember that Kuroko had enough strength in those arms of his to punch a ball to the other side of the court, and want to pity the blue-haired boy. He laughed a little.

"I can understand wanting to avoid that." He commented with a sly undertone, turning to the changing rooms and looking at Kuroko from the corner of his eye. Kuroko didn't even look embarrassed and stared at him levelly.

"Akashi-kun deserved it." A sheepish smile curled Seijuurou's mouth. Ahh, he was caught.

"I suppose I did." He rubbed his cheek.

"At least I didn't punch Akashi-kun as hard as I did Aomine-kun. Aomine-kun fell down." Kuroko said as he walked past Seijuurou to the changing rooms, leaving him staring after him in shock. He didn't quite know how to react to that. He was wavering between being annoyed that Kuroko apparently went easy on him, and being grateful that he didn't feel the full force of one of Kuroko's normal punches.

He followed the tealette into the changing rooms and began changing to go home, knowing that the rest of the team had gone home already. He had just changed his trousers when Kuroko came out of the shower, towel around his waist and another rubbing his hair dry. Pulling on his shirt, he wondered how he should apologise. Shaking his head, he waited until Kuroko had gotten fully dressed before he spoke again.

"Kuroko, I'm sorry." He said quietly, catching Kuroko's attention, though Seijuurou's gaze was on the wall. "Murasakibara challenged me to a game, saying that if Aomine could skip practice then he should be able to as well. He didn't want to obey a weak captain." He felt Kuroko coming up beside him and smiled a little sardonically. "He won four baskets before I realised that I was going to lose, and then the team would fall apart. Everything I'd ever wanted would fall apart and there was nothing I could do. But then, someone else, someone who is also Akashi Seijuurou came forward and won the game. He allowed Murasakibara to skip practice anyway so long as he came to games and then waited for you." Kuroko handed Seijuurou his bag.

"It's okay. We can get Murasakibara-kun back – and Aomine-kun will come to practice if he wants an undamaged face." He assured mildly, much to Seijuurou's amusement. "And maybe when he isn't threatening to tear our team apart, I'd like to meet your other self." Seijuurou blinked in surprise, feeling his other self do very much the same.

"What? Why?" Kuroko smiled at him, eyes soft.

"He is still Akashi-kun, and I'd like to know him too. I like being friends with Akashi-kun." Huffing a small laugh, Seijuurou lead Kuroko out of the gym, locking it behind him.

"I think both of us would like that." He murmured.

* * *

Omake:

"Looks like it was no good." Tetsuya was too busy thinking about his up-and-coming cold to really, truly concentrate on what his captain was saying and just hummed an agreement, lifting the towel to dab at his face. "Then, there's nothing we can do. You should give up on Aomine." Tetsuya blinked as _that_ registered. What? He stared at Akashi-kun. "A plate can never fully be restored once it has a crack. But if it is still usable, what we have now will suffice."

Disturbed and confused at the way Akashi-kun was speaking, Tetsuya asked, "Akashi-kun? What are you talking about?" Tetsuya was aiming to sound annoyed, but the confusion he felt about Akashi-kun's revelation about plates, and the worry he had for the very obvious fact that Akashi-kun's _eye_ had _changed colour_ was probably putting him off, just a little. And then he thought that there was no way that Akashi-kun, as he knew him, would tell him to _give up_. Ever. _Especially_ about a teammate. "No… Who _are_ you?" This new Akashi-kun smiled, putting a widely-spread hand on his chest.

"Of course, I am Akashi Seijuurou… Tetsuya."

Tetsuya blinked. Blinked again. Then blinked a third time before turning and beginning to walk to the changing rooms. He was too wet and tired to deal with this now. He rubbed the towel on his hair, trying to dry it a little so it wasn't dripping freezing cold water down his back.

Seijuurou gaped. "Tetsuya, where are you going?" He refused to admit he felt rather rejected by Tetsuya's reaction. Tetsuya waved his hand at him, not even looking at him.

"I'm not dealing with this now. We can talk about this tomorrow. I'm tired and wet and I'm not really in the mood to punch another idiot. So, either get a clue and snap out of whatever thing you're going through, or this can wait." He turned his head a little. Seijuurou felt himself shudder at the carefully blank look in Tetsuya's eyes. "I'm done with the dramatics." Seijuurou wanted to quail.

"Ah, Tetsuya –" He stepped after the tealette and a part of himself was rather alarmed that, for all he boasted he was absolute, he most likely looked rather pathetic; reaching out to the 'invisible' sixth man of their team pleadingly. Another part of himself (that felt surprisingly like his original self) was very amused.

" **What?** "

"What did I do?" The look he was given was just barely restrained in its annoyance.

"Akashi-kun, you were being dramatic. I've had enough drama today." Tetsuya had reached the door to the changing rooms and paused just inside the doorway. A sadistic look passed through his eyes for a moment. "Also, Aomine-kun will be coming to practice every day for as long as he values his face and so you were making the wrong assumption." Wrong? He, Akashi Seijuurou, was _wrong_? Just before Tetsuya went out of sight, Seijuurou heard him mutter, "I never knew Akashi-kun liked plates so much."

* * *

 **Yeah, the omake came because halfway through doing this chapter, I thought how funny it would have been for Tetsuya just to get utterly fed up and just walk away and then for Seijuurou to be all kind of 'why won't you play along? I'm sorry, what did I do wrong? Play along... please?' while Tetsuya essentially goes 'talk to the hand'. Haha!**

 **Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think, as always!**

 **BP**


	4. Chapter 4

**This originally wasn't going to be here, but I like complete endings and I like having resolutions. So... this idea wouldn't stop bugging me. I hope you enjoy!**

 **BP**

* * *

The next day, at practice, Shintarou was amazed to see that Akashi, the one he knew, was back, red eyes smiling at them all, and so was Aomine, who was slinking around in the background, spinning a basketball on his finger.

"Good afternoon, everyone." He barely restrained a flinch as Kuroko appeared out of _nowhere_.

"Kuroko." He greeted shortly, fingering his lucky item of the day: a toy cupcake.

"Good afternoon, Kuroko." Akashi replied, smiling affectionately. Kuroko turned to Aomine and Shintarou was a little discomforted by the threatening glint in his eyes.

"It's good to see that you came to practice, _Aomine-kun_." Aomine jumped like he'd seen a ghost, and smiled nervously at Kuroko.

"H-hi, Tetsu." Akashi's smile sharpened with amusement.

"It's a good thing I sent Kuroko after you, wasn't it, Aomine? Otherwise Kuroko might get upset." The redhead called out. Aomine flinched, his hand making an aborted movement to his cheek and it was only then that Shintarou noticed the quite dark bruise on it. Eyes wide with surprise, he turned to Akashi.

"Did Kuroko –?" Akashi's smile widened.

"Yes. Do you remember what happened in the locker room when Aomine ignored Kuroko during that game?" Shintarou nodded. "Well, our phantom player fulfilled his promise – and told Aomine that he'd have no problem introducing him to the strength that he put in the Ignite Pass." Shintarou choked on his own saliva.

"Kuroko isn't usually that violent." Akashi looked at him with pitying amusement.

"Every man has his limits – and Aomine reached that." He rubbed his own cheek lightly. "Aomine wasn't the only one who did that yesterday." Akashi added in a mutter. Shintarou blinked, and when he focussed really hard he just about saw the green-yellow bruise that Akashi had covered with make-up.

"You too?!" Shintarou couldn't help his incredulousness. Kuroko had always had a lot of respect for Akashi, so the thought that the tealette would actually hit his captain came as a complete surprise. Akashi nodded, sheepishness entering his expression.

"It was – well, after the game, I'm sure that you noticed the change in my attitude." Shintarou nodded. "Kuroko came back from persuading Aomine, and he made a wrong assumption and… angered Kuroko. Kuroko punched him – me – in the face and proceeded to lecture him about what was going on and how the way that he'd decided to keep the team together was wrong." Akashi laughed lightly. "I think he respects Kuroko, just for doing what he did. Well, I came back, and apologised." He looked at Kuroko, who was talking to a pale Aomine with a small smile and a threatening air. Shintarou followed his gaze before looking back to Akashi. "I think the three of us will be very good friends." The redhead admitted softly.

"Three?" Shintarou asked, before it hit him. "Kuroko wants to be friends with your other self as well?" Akashi shrugged with a telling smile, calling the Miracles (minus Murasakibara, though Shintarou had a feeling that Kuroko would soon fix that) over for a quick game against the other first-string members. Kise bounded over excitedly, apparently enjoying the lighter air in the gym compared to the day before, Momoi following, clipboard in hand. Shintarou watched as Kuroko smiled, his expression soft, and gestured to Aomine. The bluenette grinned, slapping Kuroko's back, making him stumble.

"Let's kick their asses, Tetsu!" Bangs falling over his eyes, Kuroko paused before jabbing Aomine in the ribs, smiling when he yowled. "Ow! Tetsu!"

Kuroko began to walk over to them, calling over his shoulder, "Aomine-kun deserved it." Shaking his head, Aomine grinned and caught up to his shadow, slinging an arm over his shoulder.

* * *

 **And it's finally over (not that it took long to write anyway)! I won't be writing anymore for this story, though in my head the ending of the Teiko arc (in this particular universe) plays out differently - with the Miracles going to different schools to simply experience something new rather that to compete between themselves who was the best. They contact each other regularly and play street basketball together. Like sometimes they even do it when they should be at their schools practicing so the other schools end up become pretty good friends because they had to keep calling each other to see where their respective Miracle went. Kuroko still helps Kagami beat Aomine - and Aomine is super-happy about it and keeps on challenging Kagami to games - and sometimes Kise joins in just to make it harder for either one of them. My version of this is far less angsty, I realise and enjoy.**

 **Until next time,**

 **BP**


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